The Sea Transport of Egypt's Kharaj Grain to Medina

In al-Baladhuri's account, Umar wrote in 21 AH to Amr ibn al-As, informing him of the hardship of the people of Medina, and ordering him to carry the food of the land tax by sea to Medina. ¹

The food was carried with oil. When it reached al-Jar, Sa'd al-Jar took charge of receiving it; then it was placed in a house in Medina and divided among the people by measure. ¹

The transport was cut off in the first strife, then carried in the days of Mu'awiya and Yazid, then ceased until the time of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. It continued to be carried until the caliphate of Abu Ja'far and what followed it. ¹

The people of Egypt who paid the poll tax were made a peace in place of the wheat, oil, honey and vinegar at two dinars each, so that each man paid four dinars; the book says that they accepted this. ¹

The speaker's view (opinion) likens the superpower of today to Qarun, who dumps food into the sea while people starve in Africa ².

He recounts that the famine lasted nine months without rain in Medina, Mecca and the Peninsula, and that the Companions slaughtered sheep and rejected the meat for its poor quality (needs_source) ³.

He recounts that Amr ibn al-As promised Umar a caravan from Egypt in that famine, saying that believers are brothers who share with one another ⁴. He says Umar began distributing the caravan when it arrived ⁵.

He recounts that merchants offered Umar a hundred thousand, then two hundred thousand, then four hundred thousand for the caravan. Umar asked, "Will anyone give me ten?" They asked, "Who?" He said, "God" (needs_source) ⁶.

He recounts that Umar gave up eating meat and lived on bread and oil, and that his servant did the same ^{7 8 9}. He recounts that Umar took a melon from a child and asked, "Would you eat while the poor Muslims have not yet been fed?" ¹⁰.

The speaker's view (opinion): one who takes up an office bears its burden in proportion to what he gains from it ¹¹. He recounts Umar's saying that if a sheep stumbled at the Euphrates he would fear God's account for it, and the speaker's view (opinion) extends this to everyone with charge over others: each of you is a shepherd and answerable for those under his hand ¹².